Fire and Ice
by cliffwriter
Summary: Sans and Grillby are still trying to figure out their new relationship when they make it to the surface. Then someone from Grillby's past comes back to haunt him.
1. Chapter 1

Sans walked slowly to the bar. His feet dragged against the snow. He didn't have the energy to take his short cuts because something had happened today. Something new to everyone in the underground except for him. The kid had walked through the door. Seeing that same kid again would make a sickening feeling appear in his stomach if he'd had one. But the kid had surprised him. They'd laughed at his jokes and played with Papyrus. He didn't trust it though, the monsters had only made it to the surface twice out of all the times the kid had come through here. Maybe this time would be different. He didn't put too much hope in that though. He'd learned a long time ago that hope was pointless. There was another _light_ in his life now, though.

He and Grillby had been dating for quite some time now. Almost three months. Sans wondered what had been different this time around. He'd always liked the fire monster, but he'd accepted a long time ago that something would never happen. What was the point anyway, if the kid was just going to reset. But Grillby had come to him, and asked him out. He'd almost said no, but something compelled him to agree. They done a simple dinner at the bar, of course. They talked about simple things. Grillby talked about his bar and niece in Hotland. Sans talked about his sentry duties and his brother. It was familiar and comfortable and they decided to do it again and again. Until they were officially a thing.

"…Sans?"

The soft voice shook Sans out of his musings. He looked around and realized he was in the bar sitting at his favorite seat. Grillby was watching him with mild concern. Sans just shrugged it off.

"sorry Grillbz, guess i was just in my _bone_ little world." He said with a smirk.

Grillby shook his head, but Sans could see the faintest smile and his flames grew just a touch brighter. This close to Grillby he could smell the smoke and burning pine wood wafting off him. Sans inhaled the sent with a sigh. He found himself feeling happier and satisfied as of late. He chose not to think too much on it.

He turned back to the fire monster, who was furiously whipping down tables, and called to him.

"hey Grillby," Grillby paused and looked up, "you really _light_ up my life, babe."

That earned him and laugh and just the faintest hint of blue around the edges of GRillby's fire. Sans wished he could take a picture and keep it with him forever. Instead he took a sip of his ketchup and called to his fire monster.

"how much longer you gonna be Grill, you're _burning_ daylight." He was rather proud of that one.

"…Only a moment. Just let me close up and we can head out." He walked back behind the bar and gathered his coat and umbrella. Sans followed him to the front door and watched him lock it.

"man this weather is really chilling me to the _bone."_ Sans said with a smile and began walking towards waterfall. Grillby's flames only flickered in amusement and he followed the skeleton. Sans enjoyed their walks, even if it was in silence. It was comfortable and soothing, only hearing the crunch of the snow and the crackle of Grillby's fire. It reminded him that everything was okay and everyone was safe.

As they reached waterfall Grillby opened the umbrella and held it above them.

"hey, hot stuff, if it gets to wet just tell me and i can take a short cut," Sans said.

"…Thank you, but I don't think that will be necessary."

So they both continued walking in silence, the only sounds were Grillby's flames and the soft patter of rain. They took a branching path and followed it to a dry spot where they both sat down and looked up. They sat in comfortable silence and Grillby placed his hand on the back of Sans' neck, right at the base of his skull. It sent a surge of comfortable, soothing warmth through the skeleton and he sighed.

"… Do you ever think about what you'll do if we make it to the surface," Grillby said suddenly.

Sans shrugged, "not really, guess i stopped thinkin' we'd make it to the surface a long time ago."

"…But what if we did, Sans?"

"what would you do Grillby?" Sans retaliated, but Grillby was ready with an answer.

"…I'd like to open my own restaurant where humans and monsters alike could come together and enjoy my food," he said with a faint smile.

"heh, you sound like papyrus, ya know that?"

"…I don't think he's quite _cut_ out to be a chef," Grillby said with a laugh.

Sans smiled and playfully nudged his companion, "nice one babe."

They both lapsed into silence. Lost in thought and looking up at the shining stones meant to be stars. Sans vaguely wished that someday, they could do this under the real stars. He'd point out all the coolest ones and the constellations.

"…If we do make it to the surface, Sans. Would you move in with me?"

The question took Sans off guard. He laughed nervously and turned away just the smallest bit.

"don't ya think we're _blazing_ through this a little quick?" He said with another nervous laugh.

Grillby frowned and turned to face the skeleton.

"…No, we've been dating for nearly three months now," his voice turned a little insecure, "Are you not ready? Do you just not want to move in?"

"no! no," Sans shook his head, "it's not that at all. it's just that….i can't leave papyrus all alone. he'll burn the house down. and how do you even know if we'll make it to the surface? where did this all come from?"

Grillby sat back with a sigh and recognized a change in the subject. He chose to go with it for now.

"…A human came through today. They'd stopped off at the bar and said hello to everyone. They seemed quite friendly."

Sans had stiffened at the mention of the human, but Grillby was facing the fake stars and didn't notice. There was a long pause of almost uncomfortable silence that was broken by the fire monster.

"…Sans do you ever think we'll make it to the surface?"

The skeleton turned to look at the stones, the ceiling and imagined he could see real stars.

"i sure hope so."


	2. Chapter 2

Sans couldn't explain what he felt when he saw the human come home with Papyrus on his shoulders.

"I'LL GO MAKE US SOME PASTA! SANS ENTERTAIN THE HUMAN," Papyrus said and ran into the kitchen.

They looked at one another for a moment before the human smiled. They held out their hand, Sans took it cautiously with a strained smile.

The human must have taken notice because their smile fell and so did their hand.

"It's over Sans," the human signed.

"what do ya mean kid?" Sans asked suspiciously.

"I know about you and Grillby. Papyrus told me," Sans looked away at that.

"if you're thinkin' about hurtin' him, you're gonna have a bad time," he said, his voice low.

The human shook their head and sat down on the couch. They sighed and their signing was slow and sad.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done in the past Sans. I've made a lot of mistakes and I want to make up for it. We're going to make it to the surface and that's where we're going to stay. We can all finally be happy."

Sans said nothing for a long, tense moment.

"make it happen and we'll sign," he said with a forced smile.

The human simply nodded, understanding his hesitation to believe them. Papyrus chose that moment to storm in balancing three bowls of pasta.

"WHAT WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"eh, the human and I were just having a bonement." He said with a smile.

"SANS THAT WAS AWEFUL DON'T POLLUTE THE AIR WITH YOUR AWEFUL PUNS!" Papyrus exclaimed.

Sans simply shrugged and smiled his usual grin. The human smiled too, a knowing smile of sympathy and guilt. Sans turned away, unable to look into the same face that had killed his little brother more times than he could count. Maybe the human was telling the truth and they'd really stop resetting. He didn't really know though, if it was possible for him to feel hope anymore. He needed to see Grillby.

"i'm going to grillby's, pap. do you want anything?"

"NO OF COURSE I DON'T WANT ANYTHING FROM THAT GREASE TRAP," he exclaimed as if he'd been asked something very offensive, "BUT THANK YOU FOR ASKING."

Sans shrugged again and headed toward the door. He glanced back and saw the human and his brother laughing together. He shook his head and stepped through the door ending up right in front of Grillby's

He walked in, his soul feeling heavy. He felt a little warmer when he walked into the sweet smelling bar. Soft light coming from the bartender behind the counter.

He glanced to his left and saw a familiar blue bunny sitting with an unfamiliar brown cat. They seemed to be deep in conversation. The cat telling a story while the bunny listened with rapt attention. They were both young and in love. Sans sighed and felt like an old man, wishing for his youth. He was still young by monster standards. He wondered how old Grillby was. He sat down in front of the bar and started in surprise when he realized he didn't know. He supposed it had never really come up in conversation. Oh well, no time like the present.

"hey, grillbabe," the fire monster looked at him, "how old are you?"

Grillby seemed taken aback by the question and paused to think.

"…I must be at least eight hundred and fifty."

Sans blinked in surprise, that was old even by monster standards.

"woah grillby, didn't realize i was dating such an old flame." Sans said with a laugh.

Grillby shook his head and began to wipe down the countertops. Sans had the strange feeling that he shouldn't ask, but he did anyway. Relationships were built on trust and whatever, right?

"were you apart of the war between monsters and human?"

Grillby stilled. He took so long to answer that Sans really regretted asking. He was about to dismiss the question and tell him to forget when Grillby answered.

"….Yes."

"sorry, grillby," Sans said, and he meant that, "didn't mean to bring up any old flames."

Grillby seemed to flair at that. Like he was angry about something. Sans was forced to scoot back in to keep his jacket from catching on fire.

"….what did you say?" Grillby's voice was deathly quiet, so was the rest of the bar. Everyone had noticed the spike in temperature and was looking at the two at the bar.

"grillbabe, forget whatever i said okay!" Sans said waving his head in a pacifying manner. He had no idea what had set Grillby off, but he wanted it to stop.

Grillby's eyes seemed to flicker around him quickly, like a candle in the wind. There was a kind of desperation and fear in his eyes. It died down suddenly and an impassive mask took over his flames.

"…I'm taking five." He said setting the cloth down and walking out the fire door.

Sans stared at the cloth. It was black and burnt in several places. Little bits of fire danced and then sputtered out on the destroyed cloth. Sans picked it up and held it.

"the hell…?"

Sans made a decision and followed Grillby out back. He remained hidden by some trash cans and listened as Grillby made a phone call.

"….Wavera. Yes….fine….quite well….he's wonderful….but- no…. Wavera," he said as if to interrupt someone from talking excessively. There was a pause and a deep heavy sigh.

"…I need you to check him…Please….I know-but…..please."

Sans' eyes narrowed. Check him? Check who? What needed checking?

Sans felt a deep unsettling feeling pool in the pit of his stomach. He refocused on Grillby when he heard his talk further.

"…I'll come and visit soon…tomorrow….Yes….I'm always careful….I always bring my umbrella… Yes….No…I'm not ready for him to know yet…. No…No! Goodby Wavera," he said and angrily slammed the phone shut.

Sans scrambled to take a short cut back inside. He managed to look relatively normal by the time Grillby came back in.

"everything good, grill?"

"…Yes, everything's fine, but I'm going to have to cancel our date tomorrow. I need to visit a friend…"

Sans cocked his head to the side.

"sure no prob grillbabe," he must've been very worried because he lay his hand over Grillby's where it lay gripping the bar.

"you sure everything's ok?"

Grillby turned his hand and took his, "…Yes, Sans."

He pulled away to go help a customer that had just walked in, but Sans continued to watch him. His mind was made up. Sans would find out what made Grillby so upset, whether he wanted him to or not.


	3. Chapter 3

Sans prided himself, somewhat, in his ability to sneak up on people. His ability to take short cuts certainly helped. It was a new day, and he'd pretended to sleep as the human passed him, while being chased by Undyne. As soon as the human had gone Sans took a short cut to Grillby's and simply sat out of sight and waited.

Hours passed and finally Grillby closed his bar and walked out with a heavy sigh and puff of steam. He opened his umbrella and started on his way to Waterfall.

Sans followed behind absolutely silent. He watched the posture of his fire monster. Though it was perfect, his flame was small, almost as if he was exhausted or afraid. Sans frowned and narrowed his eyes, he wasn't worried, not yet. He was more mildly concerned. Still he followed Grillby's slow steps to Waterfall.

A monster Sans didn't recognize met Grillby at the opening to the wetlands. Upon closer inspection Sans found that she was a water monster. Tall, taller than Grillby by several inches. She was made entirely of water, while her dress was a flowing dark purple that danced around her as if made of waves. She looked like a human made of water, with eyes, a mouth, and a nose. Her hair was short and spikey. It looked like ice as it danced and sparkled in the light.

They didn't touch each other, but smiled nonetheless. They seemed happy to see one another, the strange pair spoke to one another for a moment, out of Sans' earshot and the water monster waved him to follow.

Sans too followed, very interested now. Grillby had never spoken of this water monster before. He'd never even said he knew any water monsters. The three of them walked to a small, very out of the way alcove. The cave walls dipped on each side and grew closer and closer until it was barely big enough that Grillby and Wavera could fit through. Sans waited several moments before he followed the two in.

The cave opened up to a large round opening. Sans' eyes widened.

In the center was a large solid block of ice. Sans crept up closer behind some rocks to get a better look and nearly gasped at what he saw.

Inside the block of ice was a monster. A rather angry looking water monster with long dark water hair. His cloths looked normal, ie not made of water. The monster had a fierce look on his face, like one of unadulterated fury.

"….He can't escape right?" Grillby's voice broke through Sans' shock and he focused back on the two other monsters. Grillby seemed hesitant to even go near the monster frozen in ice. His flames flickered frantically and the color was a light yellow. Whoever this monster was, Grillby was terrified of him.

"No, I maintain the spell every day, he can never escape. I promise you Grill," Wavera said with a reassuring hand that almost touched Grillby's shoulder. "He will never bother you again."

Sans curiosity sky rocketed, and he almost stepped out and demanded to know what was going on. The slump in Grillby's shoulders stopped him though.

"…God I hope not… I don't know what I'd do if….," he sighed and his fire flickered a little brighter.

"If it is as serious as it sounds, you need to tell him," Wavera insisted.

"….If we ever make it to the surface I will," Grillby said.

"Why the surface?"

"…I don't know," Grillby said, putting his face in his hand, "…It's easier to put it off that way."

They stood together silently, both staring at the frozen water monster. Sans feeling like he was witnessing something he shouldn't be. Feeling a little guilty for not trusting Grillby, Sans teleported away. By now the human would have made it to final hall and it was judgment day.


End file.
